17 April, 2011

Chaos reigns as doctor 'stops' McCloskey v Khan:

FARCE: Doctor (right) stops McCloskey because of 'cut'

Events at the MEN Arena last night ended in farce as Amir Khan's fourth defence of his WBA World Light-Welter weight title against Northern Ireland's Paul McCloskey was stopped by referee Luis Pabón in the sixth round. The fact that Khan celebrated as if he had landed a knockout, did leave a rather unsavoury taste in the mouth.

STILL CHAMPION & OFFERING NO REMATCH: Khan laps up plaudits

Khan was declared the unanimous 60-54 winner, which was a fair reflection of the action. But Pabón was about to face the fury of Barry Hearn, the owner of Matchroom, McCloskey's promoter. After clambering into the ring Hearn shouted at the Puerto Rican official: "You're a fucking disgrace, a fucking disgrace." Later he said: "If I was Khan I'd be ashamed. The referee showed enormous ineptitude." Hearn, who has promoted fights since the 1980's refused to pull any punches and continued by stating: "This was a world-title fight. If you see the cut you'd be amazed. It's a nick. It's the worse stoppage I've ever seen."

NOT HAPPY: Hearn (with glasses & centre of pic)

Khan's Coach Fred Roache has stated that there would be "no point" in offering McCloskey a rematch; whilst Khan himself stated immediately afterwards: "McCloskey is a good fighter, a European class fighter. I am a world class fighter though. I am ranked second in the world and now I want to fight the number one in the world. There would be no reason for me to give McCloskey a rematch."